Using Small Groups in the Catechumenal Process
Posted on February 4th, 2009
RCIA catechetical sessions are not meant solely to transmit information like the convert classes of old. The purpose of catechesis is to initiate and foster the process of conversion of heart and entry into the mystery of Christ. Therefore, in addition to teaching the truths of the faith in catechetical sessions, it is important to provide time in small groups to give participants a forum where they can feel comfortable.
Small groups enable catechumens and candidates to express how they have understood the truths they have heard. They are then able to articulate their initial responses: perceptions, insights, agreements, connections with other teachings, assent, thanksgivings… as well as concerns, reservations, difficulties, and disagreements. The dialogue that small groups foster will allow for participants to experience a deepening of their own conversion as well as to consider how they might apply a particular teaching to their own life situation.
Although small groups are not mentioned in the RCIA ritual book, small groups are exceedingly helpful to participants’ spiritual journeys because they call for dialogue and response.
Genuine catechesis therefore is that catechesis which helps to perceive the action of God throughout the formative journey. It encourages a climate of listening, of thanksgiving and of prayer. It looks to the free response of persons and it promotes active participation among those to be catechized. (General Directory for Catechesis, n. 145)
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Tags: Small Groups
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Purification and Enlightenment
Posted on January 14th, 2009
Download and read the PDF article titled: Preparing to Receive the Life of God: RCIA Catechesis in the Period of Purification and Enlightenment to learn about how catechesis changes when you exit the period of the Catechumenate and enter the period of Purification and Enlightenment.
A quote from the above article:
“During the period of purification and enlightenment, the focus becomes a stronger emphasis on the spiritual and mystical life in preparation for the sacraments. The guidelines for this period (which normally coincides with Lent) as well as the rites associated with them, enable catechists to shift the focus of teaching from an exposition of the Deposit of Faith to reflection and meditation. Before they receive the sacraments of initiation, ‘the elect must have the intention of achieving an intimate knowledge of Christ and His Church, and they are expected particularly to progress in genuine self-knowledge through serious examination of their lives and true repentance.’”
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The Role of the Mystagogue
Posted on December 16th, 2008
Q. What is the role of the mystagogue in the mystagogy process?
A.The term mystagogue can be defined as “a person who initiates into mysteries” and comes from two Greek words: mystes “one initiated into the mysteries” and agogos “leading, a leader.”
In the early Church, this concept was used to describe the bishop who gave what are known as “Mystagogical Homilies” – exhortations given to the newly baptized regarding the sacraments they had received at the Easter Vigil. One of the most famous of these mystagogical works is On the Mysteries by St. Ambrose of Milan. [Click here to read the rest of this entry… » ]
Tags: Mystagogue
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RCIA Participant’s Book on CD
Posted on December 10th, 2008
RCIA Participant’s Book on CD, 2nd Edition
Association for Catechumenal Ministry
ISBN: 978-1-933374-06-2 (Order Code: ERPDC)
Distributed by Liturgy Training Publications
To Order by Phone: (800) 933-1800
Orders outside U.S. & Canada: (773) 486-5630
Price: $189.95 ea. – Purchase Online
This one-time purchase gives you a CD with 380 beautifully designed handouts in PDF format. The original purchaser (the parish) then has unlimited permission to reproduce these handouts.
Rather than having to continually repurchase participant materials year after year, you now only incur the cost of using your parish’s copy machine. Also, you are freed from having to follow a pre-set curriculum created by a publisher and are given the flexibility to choose the order of topics to follow that best suit the particular group of participants you have this year, right now. [Click here to read the rest of this entry… » ]
Tags: RCIA Participant Materials
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Practical Suggestions for Godparents and Sponsors
Posted on December 4th, 2008
Pray for them regularly.
Exchange telephone numbers and email addresses with them.
To them feel at home in the RCIA setting, try to arrive for the RCIA sessions and rites before them.
Ask them to notify you or a team member in the event that he or she will miss a session.
If they miss an RCIA session, call afterwards to show concern.
Extend an invitation to attend Mass or other parish activities/ministries with you.
Introduce them to other parishioners.
Extend an invitation to attend a Catholic baptism, wedding, funeral, parish reconciliation service, or other liturgical event with you. Allow time to discuss the experience before or after.
Offer to provide childcare sometime so that the person you are serving can have a special night out with his or her spouse. [Click here to read the rest of this entry… » ]
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Dispositions and Attitudes of the RCIA Leader
Posted on November 21st, 2008
Just as the Christian initiation process is intended to cause and facilitate a profound interior change in participants, the RCIA leader may have to undergo an “attitude adjustment” to be successful in managing the process. Here, we’ve listed some pointers to assist the leader.
♦ Expect the Christian initiation process to be difficult. The leader is doing one of the most important jobs on earth, and Satan will actively oppose it.
♦ Avoid an “I’m running a program” mentality. Administration is a secondary aspect to the leader’s calling, necessary only to serve the process of conversion as the participants experience it.
♦ Delegate everything that can be delegated. Satan can derail the Christian initiation process by ensuring that a good leader is frantically busy.
♦ Make relationships strategically. This includes listening to all those who are also engaged in the parish’s Christian initiation process, because people listen to those who listen to them.
♦ Think collaboratively and deferentially. Whether the parish RCIA leader is a pastor, another member of the clergy, or a paid or volunteer layperson, that leader cannot be “territorial.” Lay leaders must always, at all times, in every way, respect the office of Holy Orders; clergy, for their part, must respect the collaborative nature of the Christian initiation process envisioned in the ritual book (see, for example, RCIA 43, 75.1). Whether cleric or lay, the RCIA leader must seek to be the best servant in the entire catechumenal process. [Click here to read the rest of this entry… » ]
Tags: RCIA Leader
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A Lending Library
Posted on October 31st, 2008
At each RCIA session, you should have a lending library available for RCIA participants. This way, your inquirers, catechumens, elect, and neophytes can check out additional resources at any time during the RCIA process to grow in their knowledge and understanding of the Catholic Faith as well as the spiritual life.
We recommend including a variety of different types of media (VHS, DVDs, books, compact discs, pamphlets, audio books, etc.) that cover a wide range of interests from apologetics to Bible study, to Catholic spirituality. This library would then allow participants to check out materials whenever they wish to go deeper into a particular topic or to have their questions/concerns answered.
So you ask: What do you recommend? Well, due to the prolific work of Catholic publishers over the past couple of decades, there are many, many excellent resources available. Below, we have listed a few suggestions, but by no means at all should this be taken as an exhaustive list! Each suggestion is linked to a place on the Internet where you can get it, to make it even easier on your part. [Click here to read the rest of this entry… » ]
Tags: Lending Library
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RCIA Leader’s Manual
Posted on October 15th, 2008
RCIA Leader’s Manual, 2nd Edition
Association for Catechumenal Ministry
Barbara A. Morgan and William J. Keimig, Editors
ISBN: 978-1-933374-10-9
Distributed by Liturgy Training Publications
To Order by Phone: (800) 933-1800
Orders outside U.S. & Canada: (773) 486-5630
Price: $44.95 ea. – Purchase Online
The Leader’s Manual is the fruit of the hard work of various parish directors of RCIA with years of experience implementing the catechumenate in their own parishes. It explains the RCIA in-depth while simultaneously giving many practical tools to implement the RCIA with ease. Newly published in 2007, this resource is being used in at least 2,500 parishes across the United States and has been purchased by parishes in every diocese of the United States and every province in Canada.
The RCIA Leader’s Manual comes with a compact disc (CD) containing many of the items in the manual in printable form such as an information-gathering form for new inquirers, parish bulletin advertisements, and sample agendas for team meetings. You will also receive the RCIA Overview Chart that folds out as well as a copy of easy reference tabs for your copy of the RCIA ritual book. [Click here to read the rest of this entry… » ]
Tags: RCIA Leader's Manual
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5 Reasons People Don’t Stick
Posted on October 1st, 2008
Here, we’ll highlight 5 reasons new Catholics stop practicing the Faith soon after they’re received into the Church through the RCIA process. It’s a sad reality, but it happens more often than we would like to think it does. But have no fear! There are solutions to these 5 reasons and these fixes are given under each reason.
1. People are not brought from their initial motivation to firm conviction.
This pastoral problem is often the result of a rushed catechumenal process wherein participants are moved quickly – without the necessary and proper pastoral discernment – through the rites. A 9-month RCIA process wherein participants are expected to complete their initiation according to the school year can be a source of this haste. (See 9-Month vs. Year-Round)
Whatever initial motivation one has for going through the RCIA is a good one because God has used that as a reason to draw this person to himself. During the process, individuals need to be shepherded in such a way that they come to firmly believe the Faith with firm conviction. As the profession of faith in RCIA #491 says: “I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God.“ Let’s make sure that this is an absolutely truthful statement when the time comes for it to be said. [Click here to read the rest of this entry… » ]
Tags: Staying Catholic
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Celebrations of the Word of God Held in Connection with Catechetical Instruction
Posted on September 22nd, 2008
In Paragraph 81 of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, we read:
During the period of the catechumenate there should be celebrations of the word of God that accord with the liturgical season and that contribute to the instruction of the catechumens and the needs of the community. These celebrations of the word are: first, celebrations held specially for the catechumens; second, participation in the liturgy of the word at the Sunday Mass; third, celebrations held in connection with catechetical instruction.
The third form mentioned above are “celebrations held in connection with catechetical instruction” and a helpful model is provided in Paragraphs 85-89:
86. Song: An appropriate song may be sung to open the celebration.
87. Readings and Responsorial Psalms: One or more readings from Scripture, chosen for their relevance to the formation of the catechumens, are proclaimed by a baptized member of the community. A sung responsorial psalm should ordinarily follow each reading.
88. Homily: A brief homily that explains and applies the readings should be given.
89. Concluding Rites: The celebration of the word may conclude with a minor exorcism (no. 94) or with a blessing of the catechumens (no. 97). When the minor exorcism is used, it may be followed by one of the blessings (no. 97) or, on occasion, by the rite of anointing (nos. 102-103).
Let’s take a moment to see how an RCIA Team might implement such a “celebration of the word of God” in connection with a catechetical session on the Eucharist using Bible passages that are “relevant to the formation of the catechumens.” [Click here to read the rest of this entry… » ]
Tags: Celebrations of the Word
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